Several issues are shaping up to take center stage June 16–23 when the 223rd General Assembly convenes in St. Louis.
The first order of business for the 538 commissioners and about 200 advisory delegates will be to elect their moderator. Then the 13 Assembly committees will work their way through the items of business this Assembly will consider. Read more »
May 23, 2018
Fossil fuels, Middle East, denomination structures and funding likely to dominate General Assembly
Several issues are shaping up to take center stage June 16–23 when the 223rd General Assembly convenes in St. Louis.
The first order of business for the 538 commissioners and about 200 advisory delegates will be to elect their moderator. Then the 13 Assembly committees will work their way through the items of business this Assembly will consider. Read more »
Children and teens swarmed around First United Presbyterian’s churchyard, their laughter and chatter almost as loud as the buzzing of the summer mosquitoes that swarmed along with them. Poles were scattered on the grass, as were piles of shapeless pieces of neon orange nylon, black tarp and Army green canvas. 
On May 22, the Way Forward Commission held its second-to-last meeting before the 2018 General Assembly convenes in St. Louis in June — using most of that time to provide updates on its ongoing work, and a sense of how it will proceed in the time it has left. 
At any given weekly meal and Bible study, or monthly worship at Faith Point Fellowship in Greensboro, North Carolina, the full scope of humanity is represented. 
It’s been weeks since Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began erupting on the big island, creating a spectacle of bright lava flow and billowing ash. In its latest report, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says the seismic levels, ground cracking and eruptions have gradually increased and several lava flows have merged. 
Presbyterian church leaders continue to follow the aftermath of last Friday’s mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. As many as 10 people were killed and 13 wounded in the 25-minute attack. Authorities are still investigating what led the 17-year-old suspect to fire on students and faculty. 
In 1993, during a study abroad program to Central America, I visited El Salvador, a small Central American nation that had just recently signed peace accords after more than a decade of violent civil war. In a unique exchange with Salvadoran youth, during a Bible study on the beach, we privileged and somewhat sheltered North American college students were interrogated about our countries’ policies and forced to reflect on our own complicity. 
Funds are available for one-time awards in 2018 to be used for Native American leadership development. The Native American Leadership Fund Award was created by action of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board. 
Workers were busy Thursday morning at the Sandy Beach Women’s Cooperative in Hopkins Village, a coastal community in southeastern Belize. This was a big day, not only for the women-owned and operated restaurant, but for the country’s Departments of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The top official was paying a visit to meet with members of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People. 
Following the April 25 approval by the Audit Committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, the agency’s 2017 Annual Report has just been published. The full report is available online for reading or downloading.